HOUSING sales dipped by 5 per cent to 75,706 units in nine major cities during January-March period because of transition in GST rates, according to a report by property brokerage firm PropTiger. The company, which is part of News Corp-backed Elara Technologies that also owns Housing.Com and Makaan.Com, on Monday released its ‘Real Insight Report’ for Q4 2018-19 that tracks housing sales and new launches in nine major cities -- Bengaluru, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Gurugram and Noida.

“Housing sales in India’s nine key property markets declined 5 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) and new project launches fell 32 per cent annually during Q4 2018-19,” the report said, adding that unsold housing stock numbers declined by 10 per cent. PropTiger attributed the decline in home sales numbers to changes in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) transition rules.In contrast to PropTiger report, real estate consultant Anarock recently said housing sales rose by 58 per cent to 78,520 units in seven major cities during January- March period of 2019.Data analytics firm PropEquity said sales saw a 5 per cent rise at 56,146 units during January-March 2019 over the year-ago quarter in the nine major cities.

As per the PropTiger data, housing sales rose maximum in Hyderabad by 26 per cent at 7,059 units in the January-March quarter of 2019 from 5,618 units in the year-ago period. Gurugram witnessed 10 per cent rise in sales at 5,764 units from 5,220 units in the corresponding period of the previous year. Sales in Kolkata were up by 8 per cent at 3,623 units. Pune saw 5 per cent rise in sales at 14,348 units from 13,712 units during the period under the review, while Mumbai reported 4 per cent increase in sales at 23,718 units. However, housing sales declined by 23 per cent in Bengaluru to 8,402 units. Chennai, too, witnessed 13 per cent dip in sales at 4,197 units. Ahmedabad reported 10 per cent dip in sales at 4,739 units. The maximum fall in was in Noida, with sales dropping by 50 per cent at 3,856 units.

“While there might not be any significant improvement in new launch and home sales numbers in the first quarter of 2019-20, things may start to change after the results of the Lok Sabha elections are announced. “In fact, as more clarity emerges pertaining to GST issues, these numbers might see improvement in the quarters that follow. Property rates would also see an upwards movement in the times to come,” Elara Technologies Group Chief Operating Officer Mani Rangarajan said. In late February, the GST Council decided to cut GST rate on affordable homes to 1 per cent from earlier 8 per cent. The GST on under-construction flats, was reduced to 5 per cent from 12 per cent earlier.